Posts Tagged ‘speed on green’

We first wrote about the new speed cameras in Calgary back in March but at the time Calgary Police were not issuing any tickets from the system. Instead they were sending out warning letters to the registered owners of the vehicles that were caught speeding.

That all changes today. Effective today, the registered owners of the vehicles that are caught by the “Speed on Green” system will be issued tickets for speeding. The maximum fine for a speed camera ticket will be $350, but those that are caught excessively speeding will face mandatory court appearances.

Photograph by: Mikael Kjellstrom, Calgary Herald

At the end of this post is a list of all intersections (courtesy of CTV News) that are existing red light camera locations. The city has been slowly rolling out the speed camera functionality on their red light cameras. To spot an intersection with the new speed camera functionality, you can look for the warning sign that is posted nearby. There are usually two signs, the top sign will be a picture of a camera taking a picture and underneath there may be a sign that says “RED LIGHT”. If the bottom sign is not there and you see a red light camera, it means it has been upgraded with the speed camera functionality.

Motorists in Calgary have yet another thing to deal with on the roads and the City of Calgary will soon have another lucrative revenue stream. The Speed on Green intersection cameras have started snapping photos of vehicles that speed through intersections while the light is green or yellow. The cameras are the same ones that are used to catch red light runners but they have been reprogrammed to catch speeders.

The Calgary Police Service has completed their testing of the new speed camera functionality and tickets will be sent to the registered owners of vehicles that speed through the intersections. Fortunately the tickets will be warning tickets to let the public know about the new initiative. After the grace period is over, fines of up to $350 or even mandatory court appearances will be handed out. It is expected that the city will begin issuing actual tickets with fines starting on April 1 but the province is pushing for a grace period of at least 90 days.

You can thank Art Johnston, an MLA from Calgary for the new speed cameras. The former Calgary Police officer of 25 years is the politician that sponsored the law allowing these cameras in the province. Art denies that the cameras are a cash cow and that public safety is the primary concern. Until tickets are issued to the actual drivers of the vehicles (photo taken of actual driver) it is nothing but a cash cow. Photo Radar is already in use and is ineffective in terms of increasing safety on the roads, I don’t see how speed cameras will be any different.